The Crow King's Wife Page 10

  * * *

  The room around him was locked in shadows as his eyes opened slowly, and for half a breath Shade thought he was somehow back in the prison in Glis. His breath caught and he sat up sharply before he realized it was a feather mattress he was laying on. It was another long moment before the fact that he had vision in both eyes dawned on him, and by that time he realized he wasn’t alone in the room.

  “I didn’t think you would sleep the night through.” Jala whispered from her chair beside the wall. She rose slowly and moved to rest on the side of his bed looking down at him with concern. “Can you see clearly through both eyes?” she asked as she lifted a hand to wave it back and forth slowly in front of his face to test his vision.

  “I can. You have my thanks for that, and the other healing as well.” Shade said hoarsely. His throat was so dry it felt as though he had been sucking on cotton.

  “I’m so sorry Shade. I never expected you to return in this condition.” Jala began but Shade cut her off with a wave of his hand.

  “It was my fault entirely. My arrogance bought my wounds for me.” He assured her as he sat up further in the bed and searched the side table for anything to drink.

  She noticed the direction of his gaze and rose instantly from the bed to fetch water from a decanter across the room. Within a breath she was back with a glass of water and he took it from her gratefully. She watched him as he drained the glass and took it from him silently to refill.

  Shade studied her face and the set of her shoulders and knew without a doubt that something was wrong. “Did Caleb leave already?” He asked and wondered exactly how long he had been unconscious. If it had been for more than a day than the Arovan likely had left him behind to finish the mission alone, which meant Caleb was likely dead already.

  “No, he is downstairs, and your goblin is asleep under the bed, so there is no need for you to worry about your companions. They are both fine.” Jala assured him as she returned with the glass and sat it down on the nightstand beside him. She settled on the bed once more and folded her knees to her chest. It was the posture of a frightened child, and the last thing he expected from Jala Merrodin.

  “What’s wrong?” Shade asked quietly, though he wasn’t sure she would answer him. She had never been the sort for complaining, and he knew she would see talking about what was troubling her as either whining or complaining.

  “Beyond the obvious fact that I nearly killed a friend with my request?” Jala asked with a sad smile then shrugged. “Too much to bother speaking about.”

  “I doubt I’ll sleep for the rest of the night, and it’s been a while since we have had a lengthy conversation.” Shade pressed.

  Jala shook her head and wrapped her arms around her knees. “Tell me what the Blights said. That is more important.”

  Shade frowned at her but nodded slowly. “I had every intention of screaming at you over that whole matter, but seeing you like this I can’t summon the will for it. So answer a question for me instead of listening to me rant. Did you know the Morcaillo line controlled the Blights?” By her expression he didn’t need to her say anything he could see the guilt written clearly on her face.

  “Had I told you and had you known when they scanned your mind they never would have believed you weren’t associated with your father’s plots.” Jala said hesitantly.

  “Funny thing, they still didn’t think I was innocent despite my ignorance. I’ve spent the past three weeks hanging from a rafter in a barn because of my last name.” Shade informed her with more bitterness than he had intended to use.

  Jala’s shoulders slumped further and he could see her eyes growing glassy. She slowly lowered her head to rest on the tops of her knees and let out a deep ragged breath. “I’m sorry Shade. I never should have sent you in there knowing what I did, but no one else…” her voice trailed off.

  “No one else would have understood, or gone for you. I know, and I’m not holding a grudge, just a bit of anger.” Shade assured her. He was certain she was crying by the way her shoulders were shaking, but she was utterly silent. It bothered him more than he cared to admit that somehow over the months Jala had learned how to cry without making a sound.

  “Every choice I make is the wrong one, and someone I care for always ends up suffering for it.” Jala said quietly and her voice quavered with the words.

  “I hate seeing you like this, but I find relief in it at the same time. I had begun to think Jala had died and the only thing left was Lady Bendazzi.” Shade said quietly as he slid forward on the bed to sit cross-legged in front of her. “Look at me.” He ordered gently and she slowly raised her face to meet his eyes. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and he brushed them away gently. “I was your first friend right?” Shade asked quietly.

  Jala swallowed heavily and nodded slowly. Her hair was a tangled mess and by the look of her face this was not the first tears she had shed tonight. He brushed a stray curl back from her face and smiled faintly at her.

  “We have hit a few rough patches in our friendship. I have made some bad choices, and you followed a few paths I didn’t agree with fully, but here we are, and we are still friends through it all. So if you can tell anyone what is bothering you then it should be me. It’s obvious you aren’t talking with anyone else about it or you wouldn’t be in this state.” Shade said in the softest tone he could muster. By rights it should be Valor sitting in his place, and he wondered if that was the problem. Given the luck Jala had with love he hoped it wasn’t. He doubted she would let anyone close to her again if she parted ways with Valor.

  “I miss him.” Jala said quietly and a flash of guilt crossed her face with the words. “And I have no right to say that. I am practically married and I shouldn’t be pining for someone that never loved me to begin with, but I am.” She admitted in a voice that was barely a whisper. “It feels like I killed him, and since I lost him I have shed more blood and killed so many…” her voice trailed off and she wiped at her tears. “When I think about how much it hurt to lose him, I begin to wonder how many I granted that same pain to when I killed all of those people. How many hearts did I break? How many lives did I utterly destroy?”

  “And in that line of thought dwells madness Jala. You can’t let your mind wander in that direction.” Shade chided softly. “You have to focus on what you have now, and not what you have lost. You have to look at those you saved rather than killed. You rebuilt three lands if you count Tevonale, and you returned thousands to life. If our deeds are truly balanced in the end, Jala, you scale is sitting with the good outweighing the sins, I promise you that.”

  “It doesn’t feel like that at all.” Jala objected and sniffled quietly. “I did something very bad Shade.” She began and rubbed her face once more. “And I don’t know how to make it right.”

  “Well spit it out and let’s put our brilliant minds to the task of solving the problem.” Shade said with far more optimism than he actually felt at the moment.

  “I turned my back on Neph, and at the time it was done in anger and shock, but after so much time to think on it I realize what an utter fool I was. I condemned him for killing an innocent, and when you tally the blood on my hands against his I am a monster in comparison. I left him alone when he needed friends most, and I don’t see any way he will forgive me for it. I left him to defend Delvay with nothing. How can I make something like that right?” Jala said and her voice broke midway through speaking.

  “Ironic that I’m the one you should ask advice on this.” Shade said with a sad smile. “I’m the perfect one to answer this question. As I recall I left a very dear friend when she needed me most, and she forgave me for it.”

  Jala stared at him for several breaths in complete bewilderment. It was obvious that she hadn’t even considered his actions in Rivasa before speaking. “I..” she began and her words faltered.

  “Wasn’t even thinking about that.” Shade finished for her with a nod. “I know, but there isn’t a single time I’m around you th
at I don’t think about it. I was wrong to turn my back on you, and while I don’t know the full details on what happened between you and Neph, by the guilt you are showing I’m going to guess you were wrong too. The fix is a simple one Jala. You go to Neph and you beg his forgiveness, and you make damned sure that you are there beside him every time he needs you from now until the end of time. Just like I will be here for you, no matter how wretched the favor is that you ask.” Shade gave her a wink and was rewarded with a faint smile.

  “Neph isn’t as forgiving as I am.” Jala protested weakly, but her tears were fading and she seemed to be relaxing.

  “Leave Neph to me. As soon as I finish my Assassination in Rivasa, and spring a few dozen inmates from the Sanctuary prison I will have room to work your next favor into my schedule. Though I must say sending me into speak with Neph when he is likely in a pissy mood is far crueler than sending me into a Blight hive.” Shade said with a grin and elbowed her lightly on the knee.

  Her eyes had grown wide at the word Assassination and he could see a thousand questions in her violet eyes.

  “Get comfy. I have a lot to explain and some details about Onvalla that you should know. This might take a while, but I’d rather you know everything before I leave tomorrow.” Shade said with a sigh as he took his own advice and leaned back against the headboard. It was doubtful that he would get anymore rest tonight, but it was worth the lack of sleep if he could leave tomorrow with Jala in a better state of mind. Tonight was the closest he had ever seen her to breaking, and the sight was terrifying. Too much depended on Jala’s strength for her to break now.

  Chapter 5

  Delvay

  The table before him was older than the caverns of his city. His grandmother had enchanted it as a means of protection for Delvay before the construction on the city was even complete. It was designed to allow the leaders of Delvay to always know the strengths of their enemies at any time, and Neph was taking full advantage of that magic now.

  A ghostly outline of the world lit the top of the table and scattered lights dotted the various countries. It was a true an accurate counting of every living being on Sanctuary if he cared to take the time to count the dots. He wasn’t in the mood for that tedious task however, and he could learn enough by the rough estimates he was seeing.

  Rivasa seemed to be thriving and the entire country was lit up with little orange dots. Nerathane was far higher in numbers than he had expected as well. According to what he had learned in the Academy dragons reproduced very slowly, from what he was seeing on the map, his teachers had been wrong.

  That wasn’t what was holding his attention however, and he didn’t think Madren had yet noticed what he had. There were far more dots moving in Oblivion than there should have been. According to common knowledge for the past ten years there were only two men that should have been alive in Oblivion, and yet his map was showing something very different. The boundary lines of Oblivion were still dead with no sign of life for what must have been a hundred miles into the country, but at its heart was a different story. Several small clusters of silver dots showed, and Neph knew it wasn’t a malfunction of the table. Life had returned to Oblivion, and the only way to explain it was Jala. Apparently she had another secret she was keeping from everyone, though he couldn’t fathom how she had found the time with everything else she was doing. It did explain however why Oblivion was such a staunch supporter of hers. She had bought them neatly, and House Dark would support her for it without fail.

  “How in the bloody hell can there be so many dragons?” Madren mumbled from his side of the table. His gaze still hadn’t wandered past the continent they now stood on, and Neph couldn’t blame him. Nerathane and Rivasa were very big threats to both of their lands, and even combining his strength with Madren’s left them still woefully outnumbered by just one of their enemies. When you considered Rivasa and Nerathane working in tandem, they didn’t have a prayer of survival.

  “I’d say most of those dots are half-breeds. If the dragons have been expecting this day to come it’s likely they have been preparing for it and raising their numbers accordingly. Our side of the alliance was the ones that were caught with their pants down. Just take a glimpse at Arovan and you can see that clearly enough.” Neph said in a resigned voice.

  Madren’s gaze shifted to Arovan and his expression grew more dismal. A year ago Arovan had been one of the strongest. Their military had been numerous and their land had been thriving. Now only a few hundred dots remained and they were all balanced in the north as Elijah prepared to take his southern lands back with the limited forces he had remaining.

  “Glis looks like a ghost land. Is there any way to get your table to show the Blights?” Madren spoke quietly and gave Neph a hopeful glance. He was dressed the part of a high lord today, but it was the confidence he was showing that truly gave him the look of a leader. Neph was still amazed at the changes he had seen in Madren during the time he had been in Delvay. Anthe had taken a broken insecure half-blood, and crafted a young High Lord. There was a time that Madren would have sat in silence rather than daring to ask Neph a question, but he seemed calm now, and just as intent on solving their mutual problems as Neph was.

  “The Blights resist magic I don’t think the table can display them because of that. I could likely attune it to find them, but I would need some blood from a Blight to do so.” Neph explained.

  “Ok so we go with what we have and try to learn from this then.” Madren said with grudging acceptance.

  Neph studied the table once more and sat down in the high backed chair he had been ignoring for the past several minutes. It stood high enough to still give him a clear vantage of the table, but he felt like a vulture perched upon it staring down at the bones of Sanctuary. “Arovan will go soon. I’m simply trying to decide how they will do it. The Stormlord is still a formidable force for them to deal with, and as far as I know Elijah hasn’t taken the field in battle yet. They have to be wondering what surprises he will hold for them. If his General is that devastating they have to wonder what Elijah himself is capable of.” Neph began slowly as he watched the fluctuating numbers of dots with narrowed eyes.

  “Valor is the current heir of Arovan. If they eliminate Elijah and his wife that puts Valor in charge there, and they know Valor. They know without Jala holding him back that he can be provoked. Elijah is cool headed, Valor isn’t. Elijah will let an insult slide, Valor won’t.” Madren observed calmly.

  “And Valor would have High Lord Blackwolf standing beside him like a rabid dog urging him to go for their throats. There is also the advantage of separating Valor from Jala’s side. That would weaken Merro.” Neph added with a faint nod.

  “Would Troyelle Hai’dia take orders from his son without question?” Madren asked with a raised eyebrow. “He could be the voice of reason that would keep Valor in check if he did question Valor’s orders.”

  “Troyelle would lead a full charge off a cliff without hesitation if Elijah ordered it, but I’m not sure what he would do for Valor.” Neph replied slowly. His gaze flicked from country to country as he gauged the strengths of each. “Jala would rally to Arovan for Elijah or Valor, so that puts Merro in the vice as well.”

  “Merro is hard pressed to hold what they have with their numbers so few, and Jala is likely the single person they want dead more than any other.” Madren shook his head and settled back into his own chair. “What I don’t understand is why hasn’t Rivasa moved on us yet? We are sitting ducks before them with very few options and no allies beyond each other.”

  “I’ve put thought into that and I’ve come up with two answers though I don’t know if either is right. The first theory is your witches. Your country was cursed for years because of the measures the witches took when it looked as though they were going to lose the war. Rivasa may be hesitant to prod them too far knowing the lengths they will go to. The second theory is they fear a trap. We are just too obvious of a victim right now, and with this much temptation th
ere has to be a down side. Perhaps they think I have a few battalions of Flame Riders hidden in the cupboard. The Firym are being curiously quiet these days. Normally when wars are raging they are in the thick of it, but look at the map. They are all staying home right now.” Neph shrugged and propped one of his heavy boots on the edge of the table.

  “Maybe they are just sick of fighting, and don’t want to take more losses than they have already. The Final stand was an embarrassment for Rivasa. What should have been a clean sweep and an easy victory turned into a total rout.” Madren offered with a shrug.

  “Which is more reason for them to want to fight right now. They have to regain their pride somewhere and I’m afraid it’s going to be with us. They will have to move before the council. I’m certain that Symphony will enforce peace, so that means within the next month.” Neph objected mildly and let out a harsh breath. “Or maybe they are puppets and their master hasn’t given them the order yet. Look at Morcath. There is a scattering of forces near the border with Firym. Just enough to give the Flameriders something to watch, but otherwise Morcath is in a holding position too.”

  “So what do we do? It’s either going to be Arovan or us if we just sit and wait.” Madren sighed and his expression was one of pure disgust.

  “We kick them so hard they are choking on their own balls.” Neph declared quietly as he scanned the Rivasan forces once more. Far too many of the Rivasan numbers were near his border. He had to do something soon or he was going to lose his lands again, and he wouldn’t get them back if he did. He knew that with a certainty.